Monday, November 16, 2009

The "Other" De Rosa

From time to time an "other" De Rosa shows up somewhere. These are the De Rosa bikes that are made in Pozzuoli (NA). The Fabbrica Biciclette De Rosa was founded in 1940 by Raffaele De Rosa. Immediately after WWII there were only two road bike frame builders in the Campania region: Raffaele De Rosa and Luigi Greco. Raffaelle's son, Achille, began helping his father at age 10 and by 15 was able to build a complete frame. The family tradition of frame building continues today with Antonio, son of Achille, who also constructs full carbon frames. The family is very proud that framebuilding is now into its third generation.

When you enter their website the first thing you come to is: "ATTENZIONE !!! I CONTENUTI DI QUESTO SITO SONO COMPLETAMENTE DIVERSI ED ESTRANEI DA QUELLI DELLA DITTA DE ROSA UGO & FIGLI DI MILANO" (Attention! The contents of this site are completely diverse from the firm of Ugo De Rosa & Sons of Milano".).

As a point of reference, Ugo De Rosa began his business in the early 1950s.

De Rosa of Pozzuoli bikes can be usually identified by a circle/dot in the O of De Rosa.

Photos: De Rosa bikes through the years

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2 comments:

I've got one of the Maxium's and it is probably the finest steel frame I've ever ridden. Hands down not "the other De Rosa". Maybe "the original De Rosa" should be the moniker. Great bike by a great builder.